Photographic-background carrier



N0 Mod 1. e R. A. GREEN & A. R. LAWTON.

PHOTOGRAPHIG BACKGROUND CARRIER Patented Apr. '7, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD A. GREEN AND ARTHUR R. LAIVTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PHOTOGRAPHlC-BACKGROUND CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,990, dated April'7, 1896.

Application filed January 20, 1896. Serial No. 576,103. (No model.)

To all whont it ntay concern:

3e it known that we, RICHARD A. GREEN and ARTHUR R. LAwToN, residents ofOhicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Photographic-Background Carriershaving Changeable and Adjustable Backgrounds, of which the following,when taken in connection with the drawings accompanying and forming apart hereof, is a full and complete description, sufficient to enablethose skilled in the art to which it pertains to understand, make, anduse the same.

Our invention relates to photographicbackground carriers andbackgrounds, used by placing the same back of one or more personssitting for a photographic negative; and the object of our invention isto obtain a photographic-hackground carrier having chan geable andadjustable backgrounds, whereof the backgrounds can be easily changed inthe background-carrier, so as to expose the desired background to view,and when so exposed such background can be readily adjusted to therequired height or position in the background-carrier.

In the drawings referred to and illustrating a photographic-backgroundcarrier having changeable and adjustable backgrounds e1nbodying ourinvention, Figure 1 is a perspective View of such backgroundcarrier,showing the movable backgrounds contained therein, the connectionbetween the backgrounds, and the relative positions thereof; Fig. 2, avertical cross-sectional view of our photographicbackground carrierthrough the upper portion thereof and of the background containedtherein Fig. 3, a horizontal sectional View of one side of thephotographic-background carrier on line 3 3 of Fig. 2, viewed in thedirection indicated by the arrows, showing one end of the photographicbackgrounds contained therein; and Fig. 4, avertical sectional view of aportion of one side of the photographic-background carrier, showing oneof the friction-rollers placed at the bottom of the grooves to reducethe friction incident to adjusting the background in the carrier.

A letter of reference used to designate a given part is applied to suchpart to indicate the same wherever the part appears throughout theseveral figures of the drawings.

A A are the feet or the base of our photographic-background carrier.

B B are the side posts of the carrier, secured at their lower ends,respectively, to the feet A A and at their upper ends secured togetherby connecting bar or rail 0.

O is a bracket secured to the side post B and to the connecting-rail O.

D is a connectingrail extending between the feet A Aor between the lowerends of the posts B B.

E E are grooves in posts B B, in which grooves the backgrounds F F areplaced to slide freely upward and downward. The backgrounds F F", aswill be observed by reference to Fig. 1, are of less height than is thecarrier and are connected together by the flexible connection G,extending over the rotatable pulley H, mounted on the top rail 0. Bythis means the backgrounds F F counterbalance each other, and as one ofsuch backgrounds is raised in the grooves in which it is placed theother is correspondingly lowered in its grooves. To prevent thebackgrounds F F from binding in the grooves E E, respectively, and alsoto lessen the friction caused by the sliding of the backgrounds in thegrooves thereof, respectively, we place at intervals in the grooves twoor more rollers I I, rotatably mounted in frame J, an d with which theedges of the backgrounds come in contact, the post B having recess Ktherein, as illustrated in Fig. 4, to receive the roller I and a portionof the frame J thereof.

In order to obtain more than two backgrounds which can be exposed to thecamera and adjusted with but little effort to any desired height in thecarrier, we construct the carrier and backgrounds as follows: Thebackgrounds may consist of canvas stretched on a frame, whereof f f Fig.3, are the side rails, and f f f, and f respectively, are the canvascovers or sheets on which the scene or design of the background ispainted.

F F Fig. 2, are the top rails of backgrounds F F, respectively. 7

L L are removable sections of post 13. These removable sections L L,respectively, are of the height of the backgrounds F F, respectively,and when such removable sections are taken from the posts B B the bottomof the groove adjacent thereto is exposed, so

that the end of the background in such groove can be removed therefrom,and so, also, the other end of the background removed from its groove,and such background turned end for end or top for bottom, as preferred,so that the face of the background, which in the first instance formedthe back thereof, shall form the front. The removable sections L L,respectively, when in position to hold the backgrounds in place aresecured to the posts B B, respectively; but when removed from suchposition these removablesections may or may not, as preferred, beattached to such posts B B, respectively.

o prefer to construct the photographicbackground carrier embodying ourinvention in such manner that the removable sections L L, respectively,are secured to the posts I B, respectively, by hinges Z Z and are heldin front of the respective grooves EE by hook Z. When so constructed, byunlatching the hook Z of removable section L or removable section L suchremovable section can be turned from its position forming part of thegroove adjacent thereto into such positionas, say, the positionindicated by dotted lines L Fig. 3as to open the groove and permit theend of the background therein to be taken therefrom.

here the background is of comparatively large dimensionsas, say, fourfeet by seven feet or thereaboutit may be advisable to loosen theflexible connection G from the background to be changed, and in suchcase, after the background has been changed in the manner described andthe removable sec tion secured in place, such flexible connection G isagain secured to the background.

To adjust the background to be used to the proper and desired height, itis simply raised or lowered in its grooves, being at all timescounterbalanced by the other background, which at all times moves in theopposite direction to the background being adjusted and a correspondingdistance.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a photographic-background carrier, side posts having verticalgrooves therein, backgrounds in the grooves, such back grounds connectedtogether by a flexible connection, one of such backgrounds being acounterbalance to the other and both of such backgrounds sliding in thegrooves therefor respectively, and a removable section to the posts,respectively, such removable section forming when in position on thepost thereof the front of the groove adjacent thereto; substantially asdescribed.

2. In a photographicbackground carrier, side posts having verticalgrooves therein, rollers rotatably mounted at the bottom of the groovesrespectively, backgrounds in the grooves, a flexible connection securedat its ends to the backgrounds respectively, a pulley rotatably mountedon the top rail of the carrier over which pulley the flexible connectionextends whereby one of such backgrounds is a counterbalance to the otherand both of such backgrounds sliding in such grooves respectively, and aremovable section to the posts, respectively, such removable sectionforming when in position on the post thereof the front of the groove adjacen t thereto; substantially as described.

In a photographic-background carrier, side posts having vertical groovestherein, backgrounds in the grooves, a flexible connection secured tothe backgrounds respectively, such flexible connection arranged so thatone of such backgrounds is a counterbalance to the other and both ofsuch backgrounds sliding in the grooves therefor, a removable section tothe posts, respectively, hinges securing the removable sectionsrespectively, to the posts thereof, and means for securing the removablesections respectively in position to form the front of the grooveadjacent thereto; substantially as described.

RICHARD A. GREEN. ARTHUR R. LAXVTON. \Vi tn esses:

D. E. STEDMAN, JAMES M. GREEN.

